Increased miniaturization of the circuitry forming a wireless communication device has greatly increased the portability of such a device and has permitted carriage thereof by a user. Carrying devices that enable a user to carry a radiotelephone on a belt or other article of clothing are known in the art. These carrying devices typically include a portion for holding the radiotelephone and a clip portion attached to the carrying portion for attachment to a user's article of clothing. Once the carrying device is clipped to the article of clothing, the radiotelephone remains stationary in its angular orientation, typically vertical. This vertical orientation can cause discomfort when the user sits down. For example, the bottom of the carrying case can cause discomfort to the user's legs or the top of the carrying case or antenna of the radiotelephone can cause discomfort or pain to the user's side or stomach.
Firearm holsters that can be adjusted while worn on a user's article of clothing are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,361 ('361 patent) describes a holster with a case for holding a hand-gun and an adjustable mounting clip for attachment to a belt or waistband of the user's clothing. The mounting clip or paddle is rotatable about its point of attachment to the case. The orientation of the paddle relative to the case can be adjusted to allow the holster to be worn either conventionally or in a cross-draw mode. The rotatable connection includes a metal ratchet wheel that couples to a grooved recess in a bracket that is integrally formed with the paddle. The radius of the ratchet wheel is substantially the same as the radius of the recess. Tightening of a screw against the face of the bracket binds the serrated outer edges of the ratchet wheel and the recess to hold the paddle in a fixed position relative to the case.
When the user desires to change the orientation of the paddle relative to the case, he or she must loosen the screw, rotate the paddle and then tighten the screw to maintain the new orientation of the paddle relative to the case. This process is timely and inconvenient because it requires the user to obtain a screwdriver or other tool before any adjustments can be made. Also, because the paddle is adjusted instead of the case, attachment to the user's belt or clothing can be compromised as the angle of orientation relative to the case increases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,001 describes a swivel connected belt holster wherein the rotatable connection between the belt loop assembly and the holster includes two rigid plates. One of the rigid plates includes a number of bosses in a circular array. The other plate includes the same number of mating recesses in a circular array. When the holster is in use, the bosses of one plate engage mating recesses in the other plate and the plates are held in place by a position locking screw to provide rigid angular positioning of the holster body with respect to the belt loop assembly. As with the invention of the '361 patent, adjustment of the holster with respect to the belt loop assembly requires the timely and inconvenient steps of obtaining a tool, loosening a screw, adjusting the position and tightening a screw.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mountable carrying device for a portable radiotelephone whereby the position of the radiotelephone with respect to the mounting mechanism can be easily adjusted and locked into position without using a tool and while being worn on the user's belt or other article of clothing.